Why woolworths collapsed

The original American firm was founded in when Frank Woolworth, a sales assistant, opened a shop in the state of Pennsylvania. Woolies, as it became known, officially came under British ownership in when it was acquired by Paternoster Stores Ltd. In , Littlewoods owner Shop Direct bought the trademark and sold to customers online through Woolworth.

The company ran the retail website but closed it six years later in and merged it into its Very brand. Rumours of a possible comeback for the retailer were sparked by a mysterious tweet from an account named "Woolworths UK" on Tuesday October Woolworths is coming back to your high street, as a physical store!

But when the shutters finally came down on the last Woolworths stores a decade ago this weekend, it was much more than that. Staff wept, the nation mourned. Retail chains come, and retail chains go, but Woolworth's was different.

The chain's brash red-and-cream fronted shops had been with us for almost a century, and held a treasure trove of precious memories.

It was the shop where youngsters bought their first record — probably on its own Pickwick label, it was where they went with their friends to devour the pick 'n' mix counter. Woolworths finally disappeared from the high street on January 6, , although the majority of the stores had closed some days earlier.

The Bridgnorth branch was one of the last, having actually been due to shut on January 5, but administrators decided to give it a hour reprieve so the remaining stock could be sold. There was not much left on the final day of trading, but discounts of 70 per cent meant there were still plenty of people prepared to have a rummage around. And everything, right down to the shelves, chairs and fittings were up for grabs. Team leader Chris Batham said: "There are a select few bargains but we have limited stock left.

The atmosphere is not too bad, but I am sad, and it can only get worse. But the demise of Woolworths not only marked the end of an era in our towns and cities, it also marked the beginning of a decade of turmoil on Britain's high streets. The past 10 years have marked the loss of some of the most famous and venerable names on the high street, including Comet and BHS, as well as more recent — but still significant — players such as Blockbuster, Maplin, and Toys R Us.

Only last week, music giant HMV — established in — became the latest casualty. The message from Woolworths' collapse was clear — no business was too big, too old, or too close to the hearts of the British public to fail. Doreen Collins said she had spent some of the happiest years of her life working at the chain's shop at Bilston in the Black Country.

It was a real family. Indeed, Mrs Collins, who worked at the store from to , owed her very existence to Woolworths: her mother May met her father at the Dudley branch in He went to the counter and asked for a cup of tea with three sugars.

It opened in Church Street on Friday November 5 to enthusiastic reviews from the local press. Predictably, perhaps, the Daily Mail, was less enthusiastic, declaring the American upstarts had chosen Liverpool so they could make a quick escape back home once their venture failed, leaving their unpaid debts behind them.

By the time Stephenson retired in , he had built the British arm into a huge concern, floating it on the London Stock Exchange and becoming one the country's richest men. The company expanded rapidly. In the mids, it was opening a store every 17 days, to the delight of local councillors who regarded the arrival of its distinctive red fascia as a stamp of approval for their town. The flotation gave the British management increased confidence and autonomy from the head office in New York and, the following year, Woolworth's successor, Byron Miller, observed: "The child has long since outgrown the parent, generating more profit and taking hold more quickly than the American company ever did.

After the second world war, growth stagnated as competitors began to open self-service stores, an innovation Woolworths was quick to copy but slow to roll out. The first Woolworths to dispense with traditional counters and serving staff opened in Cobham, Surrey, in March , but the revamp was only used in new stores. Rivals, including supermarkets, who rolled out the new concept faster, soon began to eat into its market share.